Real estate agent finds woman’s body near Breen

A woman’s body was found Wednesday in rural La Plata County, the victim of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

The woman, who appeared to be in her 50s, had not been identified as of Wednesday evening, said Dan Bender, spokesman with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.

The body was found about 2:15 p.m. by Thad Trujillo, a real estate agent with the Wells Group in Durango, who was showing property in the 9000 block of County Road 120, about four miles west of Breen.

Trujillo said he was with a couple from Fort Collins when they came across an all-terrain vehicle parked in the middle of a dirt road that accesses the property. They observed a body lying on the road, possibly passed out, so they honked, but there was no movement, he said.

They got out of the vehicle to have a look and found a woman’s body lying on the ground about 10 feet behind the ATV. “There was a gun lying on the chest,” he said.

The remote property is on 45 acres in Hay Gulch, he said. The owner lives in California. There is no home on the property.

Trujillo, a 15-year veteran with the Colorado Mounted Rangers, left the scene and notified authorities, he said.

A coroner is expected to examine the body today.

“We don’t have anything to suggest foul play,” Bender said. “We don’t feel that people who live nearby need to feel that they’re at any risk.”